My New Wheels

Isn't it just gorgeous?

For those of you who don't know, I have been in the market for a new bicycle ever since I came back from New Zealand. This is because the old one was distinctly non-ridable when I left last winter: I'd bought it at Toys 'R Us for ~$100 when I was thirteen years old, and the lack of working breaks and plentiful amounts of rust sort of deemed that bike a public health hazard. I mean, it's borderline-excusable for college students to have bike a bike audible a block away due to five individual noises, but it's probably not so cool when you start realizing your legs are more efficient at helping you stop than the breaks.

So then I started looking into what sort of bicycle I wanted, I decided that I wanted one with style. I don't have a car, meaning my bicycle is my primary mode of transportation, so why not spring for a pretty one so long as it can get you to class or the grocery? And why not get one that's fun to ride while you're at it? Many bicycle stores and catalog-searches later, I finally found a bicycle store on the West Side that had a Raleigh Retroglide 7, which is a cruiser bike that looks lovely and has seven speeds to boot to tackle the primarily flat terrain of Cleveland. Hooray!

But anyway, I am in complete love with this bike, as is is the sort of bicycle that makes you feel like you can conquer the world while riding it, or at least the hill on the southern side of campus. You know how Plato had his idea that everything in the universe is an attempt at a perfect idealized object, and the ones we find most pleasing are the ones that approximate this idealized object the best? Well I am fairly certain that this bike is the "idea bicycle" of Plato's world, as it's just perfect. Now all I need to do is get my bicycle bell and basket out of storage...